Musical instrument



Patented Feb. 9, 1926.

FREDERICK C. BENDER, OF l-EEB'PSTED, NEW' YORK.

MUSCAL INSTRBE'N.

Application filed February 14, 192e.

To all whom. t may/*1007100101:

le it. known that I, Fnnnninoie C. Bannon, a citizen et thelllnited States, residing at Hempstead, Long Island, inthe State otl ew York, have. invented certain new and usetul lin-proveinents in Musical Tinstruments, et which the lfollowing is a specification, reference' being had to the accompanyingr drawing,y torining a part hereo't.

rihis i invention relates generally to the type ot. instrument inl which a mouth-piece and'reed are employed with an enlarged bell-mouth at .the end o'f the horn. llore particularly, the improvements here-in are designed with reference to their applica tion to a type of instrun'lent which may best! lwvlikened to asaxophone in which a plurality of keys are provided for manipulation to produce v ditterent tones. The general object of the invention is to eliminate troni such a type ot' instrument the `great number et leys and substitute therefor a eline carrying;l one or several keys which slide is movable over a tapered openingh in the horm. the tonalv eti'eet depending upon the position. o't any one key with respect to the` tapered opening. In practicingl the invention: the yhorn isr slid longitudinally and the w-idth of the slide increases from the upper` endet the tube towardsthe lower ond. rllhe slide. which is disposed overl this openine' is a little wider than the greatest width or the slot so that the latter is always entirely covered except at the points where the -key or keys are operated.

Still another object of theA invention is to incorporate. in a reed instrument deilectoi. which. is movable longitudinally oi" the horn andfis operable to 'close itt-incre or less at any. desired ,point throughout its length thereby.- shortening the sound --chainberv and producing over-tones. In the preferred einbod-iinent it is,proposed.to-1n0unt-this defiector f on 1. the slideand lprovioe suitable means for Inanipulatingiit manually, the detiector norinallybeing` heldin `operative position ley .af spring.

A further object of the invention is to associatewith: thefflongitudinalslot in the horn an adjustable.lneans'for varying;` the width oit-the slot asi-equired,` the adjustinent serving to be of a more or less perinanent nature.

These and other objects of the invention will be described with greater particularity hereinafter in connection with the detailed Seriell No. 692,641.

through the lacy el" the'instruinent in Fig-k ure l and taken on the plane indicated by the line 1%-2 and looking in the direction of ,the arrows.

l". 3 is a 'fragmentary view in side tion olf the horn part being,I broken away't show the deiiector.

iis kindicated hereinbet'ore, the invention is not limited in principle to its application to any particular type oft' sound producingy instrument but ter the purposes otthis application it ias been illustrated in connection with a reed instrument that may best be lihened to a saxophone. .From the dist-.losnre herein it vwill be evident to one skilled in the art as to how the saine principle may be applied to other types et instruments tor the desired purposes. :ln a saxophone dilierent tones are obtained by manipulation oit' a series ot lreys. lthe linger act-ion is diiiicult and the parts are ninnerous and expensive. As shown in lh rgure l the instrumentwhich is illustrated more or less conventionally includes a mouthpiece n., a horn 7) anda bell-shaped mouth c. 'llhe horn Z) is slotted longitudinally i'or a substantial part et its length as indicated at o and this slot tapered being narrower at the top oi the horn than at the bottoni. While the slot may be termed at, any part of the periphery ol the horn it willl probably be n'iost convenient .to locate it at the= right side asshown in the drawings,t'or reasons which will later appear. The slot is closed by means of a slide l which may be conveniently secured in slidingl engagement with the horn along the edges ot' the slot o by Hanging the latter as at b2 and crimping the edges ot the slide over thesetlanges as indicated at d. Suitable stops may be carriedxwitlr the slide to liinit itsrange olf movement so that when iti is moved' upor down the slot is never nncovered at either end. Movement otl the slide may be effected conveniently by means of a hand-piece Z2 and within the span ot this hand-piece the slide may be formed with an opening` (Z3 which is covered by a Ell) hinged valve e provided with a linger key e to facilitate rocking of the valve to uncover the opening cl3 in a manner commonly employed. As thus far described, the operation of the instrument should be apparent. The slide is moved up or down to different parts of the tapered slot and the valve e is opened by the finger when the slide has been moved to such a position as to give the desired tonal effect when the valve is opened. While only one valve c has been shown it is evident that it is Within the spirit of the invention to provide a plurality of such valves on the slide although it is not contemplated that the tonal effects shall be produced by reason of the number of such valves but rather by the position to which they are moved with respect to the slot. by operation of the slide.

In accordance with another object of the invention simple means are provided for producing over-tones. Such means are feasible in the improved construction by virtue of the use of the slide cl. ln' the simplest form of device a deflecter plate in the form of what is commonly termed a butterfly valve is mounted on the slide by means of a rock shaft which has at its outer end a crank i arm carrying a key readily engageable by a finger of the hand which manipulates the slide. A spring g may engage the rocl shaft f operatively so as to hold the valve normally in a position parallel to the axis of the horn thereby offering no interference to the sound waves. This deflectonrit will be noted, is located at a point beyond the valve Z3 so that when it is turned to a position at right angles to the aXis of the horn it acts as a detlector limiting` the length of the sound chamber and producing over-tones. Movement of the dellector, of course, is brought about by pressure on the ley 7 which turns the defleetor against the action of the spring g, the latter serving to restore it to its normal position instantly when the key pressure is relieved.

Another feature of the invention has to do with the mounting of a false side wall for the slot o which may be adjusted at either end to change the width of the slot at each end and also its degree of taper. Such a false side wall is shown as an angle piece at 7L, one flange of which may be located between the slide Z and the flange b2 of the horn. The other flange 7L of the angle piece is disposed at right angles to the slide and constitutes one side wall of the slot. Adjusting screws z', z", at opposite ends of the angle piece pass through the flange L and through the horn b and permit the flange L to be moved in or out at either end for the purpose indicated.

rEhe invention may be incorporated in various types of instruments and devices for producing sound without departure from the principle disclosed.

YWhat l claim is:

l. ln a sound producing device a sound chamber having an opening in the wall, a slide overlying the opening and movable thereover and a movable valve carried with the slide to release the air in any desired position of the slide.

ln a wind instrument a sound chamber having a slotted wall, a slide overlying the slet to close it at all times and movable longitudinally thereof, said slide being pr0- vided with an opening in line with the slot, a valve covering the opening and means t0 open the valve in any position of the slide.

ln a wind instrument a horn having a longitudinal tapered slot therein, a slide closing the slot at all times and movable longitudinally thereof, said slide being provided vvith an opening in line with the slot, and a linger valve to control said opening` il. lin a wind instrun'ient a horn having a longitudinal tapered slot therein, a slidel closing the slot at all times and movable longitudinally thereof,-said slide being provided with an opening in line with the slot, a linger valve to control said opening, and a handgrip in pronin'iity to the linger valve to facilitate operation of the slide.

A wind instrument having a horn provided with a longitudinal opening, a slide 'to r-lose the opening and having a port therein, means to control the port, and a manually operable delieetor carried with the slide and disposed within the horn and means to operate the same.

6. A wind instrument having a horn provided ivith a longitudinal slot, a movable slide to close the opening and having a port in line witn the slot, a linger valve to control the port, a deflector mounted on the slide at a point beyond the linger valve, yielding means to hold the dellector in one position, and .manual means to move the defleetor in another position with respect to the sound waves.

7. A wind instrument having a longitudinal slot, a movable slide to close the slot and provided with a port, a side wall and means for adjusting the same whereby the width and shape of the slot may be varied manually.

'.l`his specification signed this 11th day of February A. D. 1924-.

FREDERICK C. BENDER. 

